Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Bodysnatchers were a seven-piece all-female band involved in the British ska revival of the early 1980s.

Formed in London by Nicky Summers in 1979, they released two ska/rocksteady singles on the 2 Tone record label. The Bodysnatchers' first concert was at the Windsor Castle pub in London, on 24 November 1979. After signing to 2 Tone, they undertook a tour supporting The Selecter. They appeared in the Dance Craze documentary film, featuring live performances by various British 2 Tone bands.The Bodysnatchers played together for less than two years, with the group disbanding in 1981 and no album released. Some of the Bodysnatchers' members evolved into another all-girl band, The Belle Stars. After The Specials' original vocalists left the band, the Bodysnatchers' lead singer, Rhoda Dakar, went on to sing with The Special AKA.In 1984, Sarah Jane Owen and Penny Layton formed the all girl ska band, The Deltones, who released an album and two singles on Unicorn Records in 1989. The group disbanded in 1991.In late 2007, Dakar released a solo album on Moon Ska World. Cleaning In Another Woman's Kitchen is an acoustic album, which features new material, plus covers of The Bodysnatchers hits, "Do Rocksteady" and "Easy Life". These days she can also be seen playing in the outfit, Skaville UK, alongside former Bad Manners members Martin Stewart and Louis Alphonso. Dakar has also contributed vocals on their debut album, 1973, which was released in July 2007.

Monday, December 29, 2008

The Acute label is dedicating itself to two channels of reissue forum: the Glenn Branca axis, and French punk/new-wave. Following the label's Métal Urbain reissue of late last year is post-Urbain outfit Metal Boys’ Tokio Airport album from 1980. Eric Débris and Charlie Hurbier form the nexus of the outfit, fleshed out by mysterious English vocalist China. The sound on the recordings shares headspace with Métal Urbain’s machine-rock, though it trades in the single-minded purpose of Urbain’s music for a more inclusive sphere of activity, which proves to be both its strength and its downfall.Tokio Airport stumbles at the first hurdle: lyrics and vocals. As with a lot of post-punk, or ‘avant new-wave’, the Metal Boys’ occasional lapses into lyrical dogmatism are hardly becoming: it’s not the content/context of the lyrics, but the way they’re rendered. Large parts of Tokio Airport are rather gauche, evoking the ‘just-out-of-college’ clumsiness that hamstrung a lot of post-punk artists. You can find a similar cringe-worthiness in the Gang of Four’s well-intentioned-but-slightly-trite class struggle polemic, The Pop Group’s Nietzschean abandon, and the declamatory surface-intent politics of some of the Rough Trade label crew. Sometimes it’s hard to decide whether that light, broth-of-language political rhetoric is, at least, easier to swallow than lyric-as-personal-indulgence, but tracks like “X-Mas Day” or “Suspenders in the Park” lose out on text.But the Metal Boys generally win out on sound. There’s something obdurate about their songs, a completely unyielding fascination with the analog sound processing and the eternal endless pulse of Teutonic technology. “Carbone 14” sounds as future-perfect, yet completely of its age, as the early works of Severed Heads, or the Human League’s The Dignity of Labour EP; in these recordings you can hear DIY tactic grappling with then-modern electronics. The final bonus tracks, “Disco Future” and “Outer Space”, stretch things further - manic, streamlined gushes of sound breached by China’s mantric repetitions. The liner notes here want you to believe that songs like “Carbone 14” and “Suspenders in the Park” could be dropped in some electro-clash club without anyone batting an eyelid, but drawing that parallel skips the rock/punk part of the equation. The Metal Boys, like their predecessors Métal Urbain, were never rigid about ‘opposing all rock’n’roll’. If their relationship with the Rough Trade label contextualized the band within the feverish non-/anti-rock action of the post-punk collective, Debris and Hurbier were never shy of throwing a monstrous riff into their songs, roughed-up through tinny, overdriven production. The Ramones meets Cabaret Voltaire? Perhaps only for a few songs, like the opening “Colt 45”, but they make for nice jolts of energy among Tokio Airport’s more ruminative instrumentals, and the side-glances at warped pop, cabaret, and various other forms. If the record fails at any point, it’s thanks to the neo-new-wave stumbling of songs like “Wah Lee Bomp Dee Bomp”.Were the Metal Boys prescient? That depends on how you view the tributaries that have run from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Electronic/industrial exploration has been taken up again by acts like Wolf Eyes, the post-punk/disco micro-revolution is being revisited by The Rapture, the itchy guitar non-pop by Erase Errata. But the Metal Boys’ aesthetic was too combinatory to be mimicked or followed, and modern practitioners of this music are too caught up following only one path to interpolate other genres into their constructs. And even if Tokio Airport is much less than perfect, if it falls and loses its way, doesn’t manage to fully transcend its era, it still sounds like little else.(Oh, and the soon-come reissue of Eric Débris’ Dr Mix and the Remix’s Greatest Hits album, I’d queue in torrential rain for that.)

Saturday, December 27, 2008

The pressure's on b/w Who? You (Bad Vibrations Records - Last Year's Youth Records LAST 2) Quasi bootleg 45 issued in summer 2000. This 45 was originally to have been issued by Good Vibrations Records to coincide with the Belfast edition of the highly rated BBC TV show ‘Something Else' on which RUDI played both songs! Amazingly it remained unreleased until last year! Comes in a snappy ‘Good Vibes' style wraparound pic sleeve - 5 colours. Limited pressing of 500 all numbered. 7”

In the mid-70's, this Brighton-based 4-pieces was, like so many of their contempories, searching for the rea soul in rock'n'roll, covering the songs of The Who, the Small Faces and the likes. When punk happened, Tonge, as they were known back then, presto changed their name to the more fitting-with-the-times The Depressions and focused on their own songwriting abilities. And the result wasn't long in the waiting, as the band soon found themselves snapped up by Chas Chandler's Barn label who relesed the first 7" "Living On Dreams"/"Family Planning" in October of '77. the first 5,000 copies were housed in a picture sleeve and was a joint 'Sounds' 'Single of the Week" along with the Sex Pistols "Holidays In The Sun". To celebrate the deal, Barnard and Smith went out to leterally paint the town red, and, as reported in the Daily Mirror, were arrested on the dot and fined for spray painting "The Depressions" on various city walls. Legend also has it that The Depressions during a live performance at the Vortex Club so impressed Keith Moon that he was pogoing and singing along. and they embarked on UK tour supporting Steve Gibbons and followed this up with support tours to The Motors and Slade. They also headlined a few gigs themselves."Living On Dreams" and their next 45s "Messing With Your Heart" and "Get Of This Town, which were both taken from their debut album "The Depressions", all showed up well in the indie charts. Soon after the Depressions changed their name to the DP's after an audience member got killed during fight betwen two groups of football supporters at Preston Poly, whilst they were supporting The Vibrators on UK tour. this incident also caused Frank Smith to leave the band. His replacement was ex-Joe Cool and The Killers guitarist Tony Mayberry.They finally split in early 1979 when was a disappointing response to the DP's album "If You Know What I Mean". Dave Barnard went on to form the mod band VANDELLS and also toured with Steve Ellis Love Affair for a while. Later in 1983, he teamed up with Eric Wright to compose "The Goldstone Rap", a single written to commemorate Brighton and Hove Albion's run to the 1983 FA Cup Final.

Supernaut were an Australian glam/punk rock band from Perth, Australia formed in 1974 and disbanded in 1980.HistoryFormed in 1974 in Perth, Western Australia, Supernaut (originally named Moby Dick) had a short but successful career which yielded two straight top twenty singles (including a number one hit) and gold album status for their self titled debut album.Supernaut were quickly signed up by Polydor after a recommendation from Ian "Molly" Meldrum (who produced their debut album) and burst on to the Australian charts with a number one hit in July, 1976 with "I Like It Both Ways". A follow up hit came in November, 1976 with "Too Hot To Touch", which reached number 19, from their self-titled album Supernaut.In 1978 Supernaut relocated to Sydney and shortened their name, their hair and changed their attitude. They opted for punk/new wave garage style and became "The Nauts". They released an album (produced by Robie Porter) under that name in 1978. The album was widely acclaimed by critics but sales weren't forthcoming and they disbanded in 1980.

These guys sound good, musically they're the East Coast version of WASTED YOUTH. Unfortunately they seem to have no real purpose other than trying to sound as hardcore as possible. Song titles like "Kill Yourself" and "Hardcore Rules" c'mon, we've heard it before. But they have potential - a strong dose of originality could make this a great band. (Tim Tonooka, from Ripper #7, 1982)

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Sounds like Donald Duck on vocals, if the song was long enough to detect it. From Guillotine #6, 1983 )

Bit of an odd one this. Atrocious cover, atrocious name and an even more atrocious dress sense ! You would be forgiven for thinking it would be some racist claptrap. Instead you get a paean to youthanasia 'A Mercy Killing' over a semi acoustic jazzy track sounding more like Caravan. The same applies to the last track 'Pornography' which has extra weird noises to boot. The middle track, the live 'I'm The One', is the pick of the bunch. A fuzzed up psychedelic rocker. All very strange if you ask me and sounds like musos disguised as punks. Released on White SS Records 1978. Weird!

DB: The Alleycats were from Lomita in South Bay. Michigan emigre Randy Stodola was the songwriter/guitarist and driving force, with a penchant for surreal narrative in his lyrics. His wife, Dianne Chai, on bass, and John McCarthy on drums made for one of the tightest outfits around. Musically they probably most resembled meat 'n' potatoes more than any other Dangerhouse punk act.The Alleycats was really my first opportunity to really get to run a session and everything they did just ran like clockwork. We just basically stood there letting the tape run. It was amazing how professional some of these bands were. At this point we were starting to get recognition for the fact that other people had tried to put out things like that but had a very hard time getting them to sound professional. BMF: Black vinyl only. 2500 pressed in two batches January 1978 - April 1978. Two picture sleeves issued: a black & white "live shot" foldover PS and a color "lounge" PS which is simply a double-sided 7" x 7" square.

The Red Rockers were a New Wave band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They formed in 1979 and disbanded in 1985. They are best known for their 1983 hit single "China". They toured the United States opening for The Cars, Men at Work, U2, Joan Jett, The Go Go's.Lead singer John Thomas Griffith now plays guitar and sings in the band Cowboy Mouth, which he co-founded in 1990 with Paul Sanchez and Fred LeBlanc. Bassist Darren Hill currently has a management company called Ten Pin Management; he manages The New York Dolls, Paul Westerberg and others.

NOW: Im Eating Off A Fashion Plate (Out Of Print 1102) 1978. Rochester NY. Before the NOW some of these guys went under the name of Marley and recorded "It's Rock-n-Roll / Killer" which only made as a acetate. After the NOW 45 came out the changed their name to the TIMES and recorded a 45 which was a tribute to Magda Gabor (sister of Eva and Zsa-Zsa)

Monday, December 22, 2008

The Subverts were one of the earlier Chicago punk bands around, forming in 1979. Originally from Dekalb, they are most well known for playing lots of shows in the early 80s and being on the Busted at Oz compilation.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Dr. Feelgood are a British pub rock band, which was formed in mid 1971. The name of the band, Dr. Feelgood, is slang for heroin, or for doctors who are prepared to overprescribe drugs. In 1962 the name was adopted by the American blues pianist and singer Willie Perryman (also known as "Piano Red") who recorded his song "Dr Feel-Good" as "Dr Feelgood & The Interns". The song was covered by several British beat groups including Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, who used it as the b-side to their 1964 single "Always and Ever", from where it was chosen by the band. (Wikipedia)

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Although producer Richard Gottehrer gives Private Practice a sound that's just a little too clean and restrained, the album nevertheless is a fine set of professional R&B and rock & roll. The material on the album is a little uneven, but with the assistance of Nick Lowe, the Feelgoods wrote a pair of tight, catchy rockers in Milk and Alcohol and It Wasn't Me, which stood out among the entertaining, yet generally generic, songs.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Here's what Brian had to say about the song "14 Steps"The B-side '14 Steps' is about much the same thing (as 'Crimson') only it's just saying you only get one life so don't waste it or poison it with guilt, hate and other fun emotions. The title came out of us wondering (probably drunkenly!!) why there are always the same number of steps in a staircase...(14... ulp! what were we on!) That's it in a nutshell.. Both were recorded in a few hours in Konk Studios in London and produced by Dave Woolley who engineered some Jam stuff but had never produced a record in his life before! We had wanted Mike Robinson who did the BBC session which we loved to produce the record but Jamming! couldn't afford the £200 he wanted paid to do it. Dave did O.K. though. Robin Richards who did so many of the old punk t-shirts did the sleeve for free - it was his wife on the front of it.....so we thought the finished article coulda been produced better but it did real well for us...in fact one of the best memories I have of the time I was in RUDI was the last night of our stint as support to the Jam on the Transglobal unity express Tour when we played the Queens Hall Leeds which was the biggest venue we ever played to a packed house and Dave Liddle (Paul Weller's guitar roadie) introduced us with the news that Sounds had made 'Crimson' 'Single Of The Week'..and we went down a storm.... We always said it was up to the listener to decide what the songs were about and whatever it meant to them was what it was about...(just remembered one guy thunk it was a song advocating suicide...aw well!) ya can't win em all!" ...and "Crimson" "Ronnie, Grimmy and I wrote it when we were still a 3 piece and the riff and intro were originally part of a song called 'Murder on The Second Floor' which never quite came off.. A few months later as if by magic we'd kicked it into shape and Crimson was born..! Unlike most bands we did write our songs together..words and music..it just worked better that way.. We used to get slagged for writing 'obscure' lyrics - well they weren't obscure to us - but we hated the dumb sloganeering that was so prevalent at the time (and we'd done some ourselves when we were starting out..!)..so we let people figger it our for themselves..Crimson, like a lot of our later songs was political - but with a small 'p'...not silly party political crap but I s'pose what people would call personal politics..though we never sat down and figgered that out! Idiot English journalists used to criticise us and the Undertones for not writing about the situation here - we always did but we avoided all the dumb cliches so I guess they missed the point..as if we cared! Anyways the way we put it was that we couldn't have written the songs we did living anywhere else but Belfast... Crimson was our quirky way of saying that if you wanna do something with your life, or change your life or whatever, that it was up to you to do it..and that no one else would do it for ya..but that there was always hope..even when it looked impossible...we wuz kinda optimistic back then!"

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Inspired by The Clash, The Damned and the Ramones the Pseudo Existors formed in Lincoln in April 1978. The band played only one gig before entering a recording studio for the first time in February 1979. Described by the engineer as "the most amateurish band he’d ever worked with", the sessions yielded 4-tracks of stunning belligerent punk rock with a total who gives a ****? attitude. The tracks were soon picked up by Dead Good Records.Supported by John Peel radio play the 7" sells 500 in the first week and enters the indie charts at No.6, eventually selling 7000 copies. It is now a collectors’ item.Prestigious gigs followed supporting the Angelic Upstarts and Punishment of Luxury amongst others and in July 1979 they again enter the recording studio and record 4 more stunning tracks. Two appear on the Dead Good compilation album ‘East’, the other two remain unreleased.Shortly after recording these tracks, the band ran out of steam and called it a day, disappearing forever into punk rock folklore.This album compiles their EP, the two tracks on the ‘East’ compilation album ‘, the other two unreleased studio tracks, one live set and other unreleased live tracks all packaged in a 12 page booklet with a detailed band history.

Dow Jones and the Industrials were a punk band from West Lafeyette, Indiana from the late 1970s until about 1981. During this time, they released a split LP with Gizmos, entitled "Hoosier Hysteria", and a self-titled 7" EP. A Track of theirs, "Ladies With Appliances", was also featured on the "Red Snerts" compilation.Originally, the band consisted of Greg Horn on guitar and vocals, Chris Clark on bass and vocals, Tim North on drums, and Brad Garton (otherwise known as "Mr. Science") on keyboards. The use of a keyboard, and the band's flirtation with electronic sounds, meant that Dow Jones and the Industrials hinted towards the post-punk sound of bands that would follow them.In 1980, they released two records. Firstly, the split LP "Hoosier Hysteria". This was released on Gulcher Records, and also featured the Gizmos. Secondly, they released a self-titled 7" EP on Hardly Music Records.In 1981, the band's track "Ladies With Appliances" was featured on the Red Snerts compilation released by Gulcher Records. By this time, Chris Clark had left, to be replaced by Jenny Sweeny on bass. Brad Garton had also left the group. He appeared as "Mr. Science" on the compilation, contributing a track entitled "Mr. Science".After the demise of Dow Jones and the Industrials, Greg Horn went on to form Tone Set with Galen Herod. During the years 1983 to 1990, he also released two solo cassettes, both in a similar stylistic vein as that of Tone Set. He has also released material under the name Pointless, produced music for Japanese TV commercials, and for Nickelodeon's "Eureeka's Castle".

One of the first punks bands to emerge from Montreal in a decidedly uninviting musical climate, the 222s were an aggressive mixture of New York Dolls glam and Stooges riffing. While the band’s name was somewhat tarnished towards the end of their career when they were forced by a few local gangsters-cum-record producers to record an awful teen pop single at gunpoint, the tracks represented on this 14-song collection demonstrate an exciting and at the time, totally new musical approach. Formed in the incredibly hostile-to-punk ’70s Montreal music scene, the band managed to produce and record some excellent, catchy and occasionally funny singles, from the sexually charged humour of “Female” to the much darker, dynamic “Academic Drop.” The latter is easily one of the strongest songs here, with a explosive finale not unlike the Clash’s first substantial sonic departure, “Complete Control.” Rounded out by a few rough-sounding live numbers that sound an awful lot like Teenage Head, the band’s best is found in the demos from the collection’s first half. This is a gritty snapshot of an exciting moment in Montreal’s musical development. (Sonik's Chicken Shrimp)